Page 44 of Conquering the King of Storms

We had been sleeping next to each other since the drug incident, so it hadn’t occurred to me that he might have strong feelings about our sleeping situation.

I knew it was a low blow, but couldn’t hold my tongue. “Well, you looked pretty cozy next to Ayla and Flood. I didn’t want to interrupt anything.”

His body stiffened. “Iwhat?” The words were practically a snarl. “I was nowhere near them when I fell asleep, Sway. If a female decided to snuggle up next to me while I was unconscious, you should have sent her running for the fucking hills.”

“You and I are just friends, remember?” I asked sharply. “It was your idea.”

“For your sake, not mine.”

“Then maybe you should stop trying to decide what you think I need and just fucking ask me.” I plucked the second, mostly-finished braid from his fingers, then took the hair tie and stood abruptly, finishing my hair and tying the end. “Thanks for the braids, but we’re clearly done here.”

I stalked into the cave, leaving Sirus behind. He caught me in less than ten steps, of course; his legs were so damn long it was probably only three for him.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice low. “I—fuck.” He hissed the last word.

And then in one rapid motion, threw me over his shoulder and sprinted.

My face crashed against his gigantic back as he ran. “What’s happening?” I yelled.

“The wind—there’s a blowhole nearby. The pressure is changing. Monsters will be coming through.” He sounded frazzled. His explanation wasn’t great, but I got the gist of it.

We needed to run.

I heard what sounded like heavy wind.

I was too dizzy—and starting to get too nauseous—to tell.

“Run,” my king bellowed. I assumed the order was for the sake of the other men, because all of us women were pretty much just along for the ride.

“What is it?” Flame snarled, as we caught up to him and Ivy. She was bouncing around on his shoulder just like I was on Sirus’s, and a glance to my other side showed Ayla in the same boat.

“You don’t want to know.”

Sirus’s words sent a chill down my spine.

“How long do we need to run at this pace?” Ivy called out. “My ribs are killing me.”

“Broken ribs are far preferable to a slow, painful death.” Sirus didn’t bat an eye at her pain.

He did adjust me slightly, though, so his movements were no longer putting pressure on my own ribs. My abs were getting a beating, but those wimpy suckers would survive.

A massive thud sounded, and the entire cave rumbled fiercely. If I had been on my feet, I definitely would’ve crashed.

The kings kept running though, pushing harder and moving faster than I had ever seen them go.

Though Sirus’s grip on my body was firm, I wrapped my arms around his waist in an attempt to stabilize myself a little.

A breeze blew at my face, and Sirus’s low voice whispered in the wind,“You’re safe, Sway.”

I probably shouldn’t have, but I believed him.

The men ran,and ran, and ran. I couldn’t manage to stay awake through the eternally-long days of running, but couldn’t stay asleep either, so I drifted in and out.

I was only half-conscious when Sirus used his wind to launch all of us back up and out of the Aboa, and my knees buckled when he finally tried to set me down on my feet.

He caught me before I could crash, hauling my sorry ass back into his probably-sore arms. The sun was way too bright, so I buried my face against his neck, hiding from it and hoping my sight wasn’t permanently wrecked after being in those caves for so long.

Though Crest and Locha tried to get him to stop, he growled a demand about the nearest inn, and left without another word when he had the answer he wanted.

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